No one woke Raven up. Frei would be staying behind with him. So the rest of the group fanned out to search and the day passed with no sign of Laurel.

"Do you think they took her out of Chicago?" Snow asked Blaze as she headed towards the next building to scout.

"... I don't know," Blaze replied honestly.

Snow sighed a little, "I should have Laurel implanted with a tracking device when we get back," she muttered as they continued to search.

Around dusk Snow got a call. "It's Wolfe," she told Blaze before answering. Her expression quickly turned to disbelief before she quickly hung up. "Laurel's bracelet is turned back on," she said quietly, "Suddenly, it turned back on."

Blaze seemed a little suspicious. "... Where is it?" she asked.

Snow pulled out a tablet as Wolfe sent the coordinates. "... Right in the center of Chicago. At the fountain in central square." She cussed a little, "This has trap written all over it."

Blaze shook her head a little, seeming to agree with Snow. "... I know the area a little better," she said. "I can try to sneak a peek."

Snow nodded, "Let's go, I'll message the others on the way." She quickly hijacked some unlucky person's hoovercraft and motioned Blaze to get it.

Blaze did, and made her way toward the central square.

Snow let Blaze sneak in.

When Blaze got to the fountain, Laurel was indeed there. She was sitting on the edge, seemingly preoccupied with a tablet in her hands. She was wearing oversized sunglasses, a black croptop and formfitting pants. Overall, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, almost like she was waiting for them to come pick her up.

"What do you think?" Blaze asked Snow.

Snow was looking at the surrounding area. It was pretty crowded, "I'm not sure. But I don't think the Okorie are the type to attack with so many witnesses."

Blaze agreed. "Call up Wolfe," she suggested since it looked like they could spare another minute or two.

Before Snow could call Wolfe, Laurel stood up and started walking right towards them.

"... huh?" Snow muttered, wondering how Laurel could have possibly spotted them.

"... What now?" she asked.

"I... don't know," Snow replied as Laurel walked closed.

She got within ten feet of the two women before looking around again. It looked like she didn't know their exact position.

"Should we make a quick run for the jet?" Blaze asked.

Snow frowned a little as she stepped out of hiding.

"Laurel?" she called and Laurel turned.

"You're slow," she stated as she walked over to Snow, tucking the tablet in a small bag. Snow seemed a little in shock.

Blaze kept in the shadows, watching carefully.

"What the terra have you been doing, Laurel?" Snow replied, a bit angry. Laurel shrugged a little.

"Do you realize how hard we've been looking for you?" she demanded and again, Laurel shrugged.

"I didn't ask you too."

Snow frowned, suddenly moving to slap Laurel. Surprisingly, Laurel dodged in a flash. There was no way she would have been able to avoid that a few days ago. Snow was visibly surprised.

"Quit fooling around, let's go," Laurel stated blankly.

Blaze frowned a little. A lot had happened these past few days. For all of them.

Snow continued to frown but slowly turned back towards Blaze, "Let's get her back," she stated, still angry.

Laurel waited.

Snow suddenly took off back towards the hoovercraft, Laurel followed behind her.

So Blaze got them out of there, making sure no one was following.

Once they were in the hoovercraft, Snow called Wolfe.

"We've got her..." there was a pause, "She's... not physically hurt. We'll take off as soon as we can. Okay.... yeah, bye." She hung up and looked back at Laurel who was silent in the back seat. She clearly had a very strong guard up.

--

Wolfe called Yue into the commanding room.

Blaze didn't say anything, calling up Raven and Frei to get their butts ready to go.

--

Yue came, but she still didn't seem completely back to herself yet.

Laurel followed Snow onto the Jet. Frei was already starting up the engine and going through the preliminary checks. Laurel didn't so much as look at her, still wearing her sunglasses.

--

"They've found Laurel and should be coming back shortly," Wolfe stated, "How's Nic doing?"

--

Kale was watching Nic. Or rather, glaring at him from across the room.

"... He hasn't woken up yet," Yue told Wolfe.

Wolfe nodded, "They should be back by midmorning at the latest. I'll leave it to you to explain the situation if he should awake before then."

"... He won't," Yue reassured Wolfe.

"You don't think he should be informed of the situation before Laurel arrives back?" Wolfe asked, curious.

"I don't think Nic should wake before Laurel is back," she clarified.

Wolfe nodded, "It's your call," he replied.

--

Laurel took a seat at the very back of the plane and looked out of the window. It was very clear she did not wish to speak to anyone.

Blaze didn't try to approach Laurel. However, Raven couldn't keep himself away for too long. "... Hey," he told her taking a seat across from her.

Laurel slowly turned and looked at him. Well, it was assumed she looked at him. The sunglasses still hid her eyes.

Raven was quiet for awhile. "How are you doing?" he asked her quietly.

Laurel put rested her chin on her palm as she turned back to the window, "I'm stronger," she stated simply.

Raven tried to smile a little, but he was still clearly a little worried. "... Are you glad to leave Chicago?" he asked.

Laurel didn't reply for a long time. But finally she said in a blank voice, "No."

Raven nodded a little. "... Do you want to go back to James' House," he asked quietly.

Laurel didn't reply but the answer was fairly obvious.

After a long moment, Raven asked Laurel, "Why are you going back?"